I’ve been researching the Federation of Damanhur, which is a SpiritualCommunity in Italy.
Their website is:
They are notable for many things, a few of which are:
- they are huge – more than 1,000 people, with a big wait list
- they are intensely focused on action as a deep principle of life; they aren’t into the “let’s settle down, raise some kids, get comfortable” vision
- one of their founding principles is the idea that: “If the creativity in every individual is realized, the society will be healthy” (something like that)
- they’re not just content, they’re thriving – people are excited, happy, and purposeful, and so on
- they grow an enormous portion of their own food (did I see the figure 90% out there somewhere?!?)
- they are an enormous boon to the local economy, to Italy
- they help sustainability communities world-wide test their ideas (by enacting them locally,) they gift their spaces and facilities for conferences, and so on
- they’re the type of people I want to be: artistic, free thinking, loving, active, purposeful
And, oh yeah, they have dug some giant temples underground.
Some surprising things about them:
- they seem to work by ideas and spiritual commitments, but they are anti dogmatic (they seem to be on a “voluntary buy-in” system)
- they don’t seem to hold consensus / non-hierarchical thinking as the end-all be-all of decision making authority
This is a report of what I’ve found so far.
I find them incredibly different, incredibly successful, and am intensely attracted to them. I’m put off my most communes and communities, where the vision of human life is very mundane, as if human life is best lived by emulating grass. This is a community of activity, vitality, and an ever-refreshing nature.
welcome@damanhur.it
Keywords
games, life, sustainability, ecovillage, spirituality, community, creativity, thriving
Star Collection
These are the links I recommend to people asking about Damanhur:
- Damanhur Artistic and Spiritual Community – a broad but brief overview with tons of pictures; excellent starter material, reporting “from the outside”
- Europe's Best Kept Secret – a shorter overview, but one that reports more “from the inside”
- Atlantis in the Mountains of Italy – a 4 page (long) article, going into myriad aspects of life at Damanhur, it’s history, philosophy, all through a first-hand experience. (via What is Enlightenment magazine)
- Carla King: Reports from the Federation of Damanhur – a multi-page set of articles about visiting damanhur, going more into the beliefs and the society and the artistic practices, with an eye towards why it succeeds. Also check out her cool video.
- Renaissance Zones : experimenting with the intentional significance of the Damanhur community – a deep expansive socio-pycho metaphysical & pragmatic analysis into Damanhur, with extraordinary links – incredibly mind-opening; I keep re-reading this one, I keep revisiting it – for the analytically minded
- Esperide Ananas media director of Damanhur community – interview with a woman from Damanhur, focuses on the temple history, the basic idea of Damanhur, and how Damanhur relates with the world – (8:05 → where outward vision for future described)
I may have found more star articles since I wrote this; check unalog for more.
Books
- Damanhur: Temples of Humanity – I own this enormous picture-book, and absolutely love it. It’s what I always share with people, when I’m sharing the Federation of Damanhur with them. Picturesque, and conveys the emotion, some of the ideas, a tiny bit of the scale of Damanhur, and the powerful spirituality of the Federation of Damanhur. (I have not yet found a single representation of Damanhur that really communicates the vastness of the scale of Damanhur, that I have discovered while researching their nature and activities.)
- I’ll be keeping the copy at SODO-in-Seattle SaturdayHouse.
- Damanhur: The Story of the Extraordinary Italian Artistic And Spiritual Community – This is the book to read if you want a cohesive and detailed view of how they work. The book is structured in a way mirroring the three bodies of Damanhur: Meditation (the temples,) Social (their social structure, how they work,) and the Game of Life (dynamics, change, constant renewal and remaking.) I’ve deeply annotated my own copy, and greatly expanded the index; My handwriting, doodles, and sketches are all over my copy.
- the Damanhur Guide – I haven’t read it yet, plan to.
Their Sites
- Federation of Damanhur – their main website
- Constitution – the constitution of the Federation of Damanhur (very interesting)
Links Collection
(Categorization Scheme:)
A -- article B -- blogpost C -- blogcomment F -- forumdiscussion X -- website
1 -- firstperson 2 -- interview Q -- analysis H -- history b -- shallowoverview
I -- images 8 -- video
+ -- positive - -- negative = -- neutral
* -- star (particularly noteworthy article)
t -- temple (special focus on) c -- templeconstruction (special focus on) i -- beliefs g -- games f -- falco s -- society
R -- related U -- unclassified
- AIo
- BIo
- C1-
- A1QH+*tcigfs individualism candymountain
- XHg
- Xi book fortunetelling
- Q+*igs
- AH=*tcifs
- XI
- A1b+-=i
- AbI*R
- X1H+tb
- X1Ib
- ABX1QI+*is
- *s (Constitution)
- B1I+isR – very touching
- 82H+*ts
- 8U
- U
- AF2+ifs
- U
- Uis
- UI
also, some videos:
- interview w/ Damanhur outreach person – it’s cute when they talk about the synchronic lines
- “we believe the future of the society is the community”
- another interview w/ Damanhur outreach
- Joshua Skye's World of Secrets: The Secret Temple – history, photographs
more detail on subjects of Damanhur to track in the future:
- esoterics,
- actionfocus
- communityfocus
- olani (family houses,)
- valdichy
- outerworld
- politics
- capra
- governance
- schools
- schoolofmeditation
- gameoflife
- social
- travelog
Messages
Thanks for the pointers
Hi Lion,
Thanks for the pointers. Very exciting! I’m going to chew a bit and then call you and regurgitate. Hope that sounds good to you too ;-)
Brandon
Thanks, Brandon; I look forward to our conversation! – LionKimbro
- "Ann Arbor Alan" – pointed to here